i know very little about cars. i can check the oil, fill the gas tank, check the fluids, change the windshield wipers…basically the stuff that anybody can do. the stuff that is pretty much worthless if anything ever really needs fixing.
so a few weeks ago i found out the alternator was bad. so i planned on taking all morning friday to change it. i’m smart. i’m resourceful. i have friends who can help. i should be able to knock that out in a matter of hours.
got started at around 8am. friend kevin helping me. we can’t figure out where on my particular car we get the belt to slack so we can get the alternator out…so i end up driving to auto zone. that was around 9:15.
at 11:45 or so, after the purchase of at least one “special tool” (which eventually broke), still in the auto zone parking lot, gretchen comes and drops off my two daughters on her way to work. amelia sleeps in her car seat in the back of the car, and ella “helps” me by standing by me and grunting when i grunt. she actually figured out that if she jammed my ice scraper into the wheel well, she felt like she was really fixing it. it worried me a little, but not enough to make me stop her. it was keeping her busy, after all.
1:30-ish, the new alternator is in. success…sort of… somewhere along the line i had blown a fuse that was fastened into the fusebox in such a way that the whole box, and all the apparatus surrounding the box, had to be removed in order to change that one little fuse. the little fuse that powers everything electric in the car…dash lights, radio, windows, turn signals…etc.
oh, did i mention that my cell phone died at around 10:30? yeah, so that made it better.
i spent a little while messing with that fuse issue, but at that point i pretty much knew it was a lost cause. the battery was pretty new, so i drove it to the shop. they took the thing apart, replaced the fuse, and put it all back together in about an hour, while ella and i ate mcdonalds in the waiting room.
it cost me $60 for an hour of labor. when i asked them how much they would’ve charged to just change the alternator, they told me $30. so i worked on it all day in the cold, and i paid $60 more for it?!! great.
well you know they say that the only way to learn to do something is to make mistakes. but the only thing i learned for sure is that next time i won’t be doing the work myself.
my friend trent fitzgerald has cancer. he’s a lot younger than i am. but he plays bass in my band, and i’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the last couple of years. he’s fantastic. he doesn’t deserve cancer. he doesn’t deserve to have to go through all the treatments and fuss that come along with having cancer. and he has every right to be negative and bitter about the whole thing, as far as most people are concerned.
but he’s not.
just the opposite.
he is trusting God and carrying his hope around with him. he’s making jokes about his hair falling out from the treatment. and he’s inspiring me to trust God more, too.
it’s expensive to pay for all those treatments, even with insurance. so a few of us have arranged a benefit haircut night, the proceeds of which will go directly to trent’s family to help defray the cost of his treatment.
it’s easy. just come to the harding high school community room, in marion, ohio, tonight (thursday march 4) 2:45-4:15 and 6:00-7:30. (community room is just off the main entrance lobby.) get your hair cut off, and donate at least $10. that’s all you have to do to be a part of this. hope to see you there.
i’ll be live-blogging to post info and before/after pics during the event. so check back!
want to post a comment? simply email it to 13017@scribblelive.com.
once in a while a group of individuals come along, whose collective passion, energy, creativity, and artistic integrity translate into something so special, so timeless, that you are beside yourself to find words to describe how you feel. final placement is just that kind of group. please enjoy their debut single: shine (and eleven thankyous to my friend bill for introducing me to this life-changing experience.)
i went to visit a guy in the hospital the other day. he’s been in and out of trouble for as long as i can remember, and some folks thought it was just a matter of time before he got himself hurt of killed. then a few days ago he suffered a really traumatic wound, and it’s a miracle he’s alive.
so he’s on lots of pain medication and whatnot. there i am trying to tell him a bible story, philosophizing about the parallels between his life and that of the apostle paul, really trying to close the deal for J.C. and this cat is falling asleep on me. i wasn’t really annoyed, but…i was. you know what i mean? i figured that i was more-or-less talking to a wall, so i just finished my story and figured i’d bounce on out of there, never to be thought of again, let alone my story of redemption and transformation and grace. as i’m about to leave, he says: “well yeah, i’m not a very good person either. i don’t know why God would save me…” then we had a conversation about why he might have been spared. he didn’t make any radical life decisions that i know of, but at least he heard me.
anyway, that night i took some nyquil before i went to bed, because i’ve been all stuffy and whatnot. well apparently it worked, cause at 10:30 gretchen had this conversation with me:
her: can you sleep on your side [so you'll stop snoring] just until i fall asleep?
me: no.
her: why not?
me: because of my truck.
her: what?
me: i have to sell my truck first.
then i rolled over.
i heard her.
i seemed non-responsive and spouted some nonsense that she got a good laugh out of, but i did hear her. and i did roll over.
hopefully the guy really heard what i had to say about God, too. who knows?
is the Holy Spirit more powerful than percocet? i think so…
this is funny. for so many reasons. the sound effects that have been very obviously added in post-production. the gratuitous explosions that happen for no reason. the dude’s shirt. and mullet. and the sliding horse for the win.
i took this photo yesterday. took a bunch of other ones, too. if you want to check them out, go to my flickr page. i’m planning on uploading a bunch more tomorrow or so. so check back.
it’s been at least a day since my last post (slash, a lot longer)… sorry about that.
here is something for you to enjoy this morning. this guy tim hawkins is pretty funny. he does some musical comedy, as well as stand-up. anyway, here are two short videos for you. enjoy.
he’s my friend now, but back in the day he was my youth pastor’s kid whom i used to babysit. i made them a really good paper airplane one time, and it flew so much better than ones they knew how to make that it was dubbed the “adam-bomber.” he and his brother used to like it when i did the elmo voice.
now he’s old and whatnot. and he plays bass in a pretty decent band. and i’m super proud of him. so i’m probably biased about how good they are?? idk.
i was listening to them play on their myspace page, and i think you should all go check it out. here. now.
it’s not an open highway to the truth, like what they say
“only he can heal your wounds.” that’s what they meant to say
